Jakob Meiland (1542-1577) was a German composer of the sixteenth century. He was born in Senftenberg and came to Dresden to join the boys' choir. There he received an education in the Dresden court choir. In 1558 he transferred to the University of Leipzig. Afterwards he undertook study trips to Italy and Flanders.
In 1563 he became court kapellmeister at the court of the margrave Georg Friedrich von Brandenburg in Ansbach. After 1568 he worked for the margrave in Stuttgart, Meissen and Munich, partly to recruit boys for the choir.
In 1571 he became dangerously ill and was taken care of by his former patron, the margrave Georg Friedrich. Meiland moved with his wife and two daughters to Frankfurt am Main. In spite of his activities as composer his family suffered in need. From 1576 to 1577 he was court organist in Celle for Wilhelm the Younger, father-in-law of Georg Friedrich. During this time he wrote numerous songs with predominantly sad texts. After that he was appointed court kapellmeister in Hechingen in the county of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. He died there in 1577.
